


A Senior year worth remembering

by escailyy



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV), Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (TV)
Genre: Anastasia and Tinkerbell are Regina's Gretchen and Karen from a certain point of view, Archie hopper thinks regina should follow her heart, Breakups are hard, F/M, Highschool AU, Regina is fed up with her life, Robin and the merry men are bikers, queen bees and drama, regina is the queen of the school, so is falling inlove with robin, teenage regina
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:07:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28025211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/escailyy/pseuds/escailyy
Summary: Queen Bee Regina Mills can tell who is going to be what after graduation from just one look at the status quo at Storybrook's high lunch tables. The princesses, the hippies, the artists, the band camp enthusiasts. She rules them all. But Regina Mills has a secret that only Dr Hopper knows. Ever since her second in command Anastasia dragged her to the cesspool of germs that is Wonderland to stalk the Knave of Hearts (aka Will Scarlet), she hasn't been able to get Robin Hood out of her head, never-mind that he's practically the leader of a gang and that Daniel is probably going to ask her to run away with him next weekend, she's never been so confused in her life. Love is so overrated when you rule a school.
Relationships: Belle/Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold, Daniel Colter/Evil Queen | Regina Mills, Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Robin Hood, Knave of Hearts | Will Scarlet/Red Queen | Anastasia, Victor Frankenstein | Dr. Whale/Red Riding Hood | Ruby
Kudos: 3





	A Senior year worth remembering

**Author's Note:**

> This has been sitting in my drabbles for five years. I wrote this as catharsis for my first breakup.

  
  
High school was hell, everybody knew it, from the pawns at the bottom of the social ladder to the kings and queens at the top of it, and in Storybrooke high, nobody and I mean nobody was exempt of it…Not even the queen of the playground Regina Mills, prime example that being homecoming queen three years in a row doesn't grant you eternal happiness. Nor does being captain of the drama club or student body president with an early acceptance to Harvard.  
  
Take her two best friends for example head cheerleader Anastasia Tremaine and student body vice president Tina "TinkerBell" Green, useless both of them, Anastasia too busy pretending she wasn't seething over Will Scarlet's sudden fascination with Alice-the-British-exchange-student and Tink more interested in the workings of her tablet than on real life, everyone was like that these days take for example professor Gold down at the teacher's table, all claws and teeth until Miss French walked into the room, Regina tried not to chuckle under her breath at the releived look that passed Nealfire's face whenever that happened, lord knew Neal and her where in the same boat, being children of faculty staff, but at least Neal didn't have siblings.. (at least not yet anyway).  
  
Again she picked at her food, was there anybody in that darn school that was free of drama? Certainly not Emma with her age old dilemma between Killian and his ego, next to them in the trust fund table, Ruby and Viktor who shouldn't even be dating because both of them gave the term whore a bad name, where out too, David was a maybe but with James as a brother one had to wonder how his family meals ended, then there was Snow still wary of Regina after last prom since one of Regina's apple turnovers knocked her out with food poisoning and kept her from competing for the crown, according to Henry senior that hadn't been funny, but Regina still had to laugh remembering.  
  
Prom princess table (As Anastasia dubbed it after last homecoming) was filled with so many smiley faces, it made Regina want to barf, Aurora, Ashley, Rapunzel, Nova and the rest of the lesser cheerleaders all huddled around their significant others, all happy and giggling, so carefree and irritating that Regina fully condoned the torture Anastasia inflicted on them as head cheerleader.  
  
Then there where the nerds, with Wendy Daring and her crew of "lost (really really lost) boys" heading the troops, Regina personally had nothing against Wendy but the girl had a thing for adopting any weirdo in Storybrooke high that looked a bit left out, and while it contributed quite nicely to the uniformity of her kingdom's cliques it was still annoying (as long as Regina was queen, Storybrooke high would have no loners…because loners bred insurrections and those where bad for her dictatorship)  
  
Overall unless you counted Dr Hopper's entire lack of social life, or Indiga's Jesús worshipping club, Regina had nobody to talk to, which was why..yeah she chose Dr Hopper  
  
"Dr Hopper I have a problem" She said point blank shutting the door to the guidance councillor office and struting right in as if she owned the place which considering her mother was the principal might as well have been true.  
  
"Ah Regina what a surprise, you where the last person i expected to see today, is everything all right with Harvard? According to my file you have enough extra credit here to get a scholarship to Paris if you wanted"  
  
"No my academics are fine, its my personal life…I think I need help and i can't talk to just anybody about this, so just for the sake of semantics I want total doctor patient confidentiality, what i say today doesn't leave this room..capice?" The young senior demanded with a regal glare  
  
Dr Hopper nodded intrigued as far as he knew Regina Miss was the perfect student, a senior with a high gpa, popular, confident and self assured, what could this young woman be worried about "tell me then and yes i promise that it won't leave this room, what is troubling you?"  
  
"Arghh where do I start? My mother?, my sister? My friends? Daniel? Robin?" Regina groaned flopping into the armchair infront of Hopper's desk "well you already know my mother, who is so controlling it drives me crazy, she is having an affair, well another one…not like the time she hooked up with professor Gold behind dad's back and forced me to team up with Neal in order to end it, no this time it's with an ex she had before dad, next thing i know there's this bimbo comming up to me in the mall telling me she's my sister, a half sister, ME, i mean sure i always wanted a sister but Zelena hates me, apparently mom ditched her when she was a baby, but does Cora Mills get any hate? Nooo because she's mom of the year" Regina ranted angrily looking close to punching something   
  
Hopper blinked…and blinked again surprise and disbelief "wait a moment wow, just wow" he said working to compose himself after the startling revelation of his improptu patient "And is the situation at home very difficult? Is that what is causing you distress?" Then another thing hit Dr Hopper in the face after a minute "Don't tell me that you and Nealfire are responsible for the sudden English Lit vacancy that Miss French conveniently filled in last year?"  
  
Regina shrugged "Neal might have mentioned Professor Gold eyeing her up at the Storybrooke library once or twice, all we did was get Mr Jafar sacked and let nature take its course…with a few tweaks in her curriculum" She didn't look one ounce regretful, Dr Hopper noted making a note on his clipboard to have her take a sociopathy test, motioning for the girl to continue Regina sighed "Look if it where only about mother trust me i wouldn't be here, i have daddy and my horses at home, Zelena i can handle just like i can everything else but now…."she continued fidgetting with the cushion untill she plain gave in and hit it "it's a boy okay, well two actually, no, not boys, men" Regina stuttered trying to let it all out in one huff " darn this is so wrong, it's all Anastasia's fault, that bitch, WHY DO I ALWAYS HAVE TO FALL FOR THE RATTY ONES?"   
  
Ahh now he understood, a bit at least, Regina was a teenager in her senior year, it didn't surprise him to hear that she like all girls her age, had trouble with the oposite sex "Regina you aren’t making any sense, start from the beginning, remember i won't tell anybody what you tell me here, who are these two boys?, why are you so angry? and why is it Miss Tremaine's fault?"  
  
"Because she keeps dragging me off to Wonderland to stalk Will Scarlet, who she swears she doesn't like, the problem is that Will is taking this out-of-juvie thing way too seriously and hagging out with this gang of hillbilly bikers" Regina complained, Archie was well aware that Wonderland was a practically unknown club on the outskirts of Storybrooke that didn't card minors and had to use all his restraint not to comment on the fact "So while Anastasia not-flirts with Will and not-makes out on the dance floor with him, she leaves ME alone, i mean i only go with her because i cant have her loosing head the cheerleader position but to ditch a friend in a bar like Wonderland? Not cool Dr Hopper" she kept ranting while Archie nodded in understanding "So in comes Robin Locksley, looking all rugged and cute, i mean have you ever seen a guy look adorable while wearing a leather jacket with a logo that says "Merry Riders"?, and he keeps me company in the bar, tries to flirt and I ignore him because you know, he's sort of the leader of the motorcycle riding hillbillies and i never mix with people like that, but then he stops flirting and just plain talks to me and it turns out he's not so bad after all"  
  
"I see and I assume that you are worried about what your mother will say, after what happened with Mr Daniel Colter" Dr Hopper was one of the few teachers that knew the truth about Daniel's mysterious dissapearance a few weeks before Regina's sophomore prom, Cora had found out about him and her daughter after overhearing a freshman Snow White gossiping and in a fit of controlling rage, expelled the poor boy and talked his parents into sending him to a reformatory.  
  
"Daniel was lucky to get out of here alive, my mother wanted his head" Regina grumbled stilling her hands and crossing her arms over her chest, Archie knew Regina hadn't been the same since Daniel left. "He graduated from that place last year you know" Regina whispered in a small voice "Daddy has been helping me hide his letters from mother, Daniel says he's in California, got a job and is training to become a Vet, he wants me to come with him and…God… professor Gold knows people in LA, I'm his best chemistry student in years so if I asked I'm sure he could make a call and I would have a full scholarship, he knows why freedom from my mother means to me….untill a few months ago i was sure that it was all i ever wanted"   
  
"But now you met Robin and i assume you are confused about your feelings"  
  
"Exactly but the thing is i found out Robin is dating someone, Will told Anastasia that Little John told him that Robin's got something going on with this chick named Marian" Regina nodded finally comming down from her rage wave, now she simply looked sad "Robin told me he's going to break up with her today…he wants to take me out on a real date…but that was before I got Daniel's last letter" the girl looked away then, and for the first time since knowing the teenage dictator, Dr Hopper saw her fidgetting "He's comming to Storybrooke and he…Daniel, wants to see me, what should I do?"  
  
Dr Hopper could understand her dilemma, she was a Harvard bound straight A student, queen bee in Storybrooke high, her family was part of the elite in their small town and even without the added pressure Regina practically ran the school to her every whim "I understand, you are feeling very pressured and it can't be easy to have feelings for two boys so diferent from each other, it must confuse you very much "  
  
"Very" Regina sighed "All my life all I thought I wanted was to be with Daniel, but I'm not the same Regina I was on sophomore year, Robin…he didn’t know me before, he accepts me for who I am now, the good,the bad and the worst, when I think about it I want to be with him forever too…but Daniel is such a good man, what if I meet him again and I'm not what he expects?"  
  
"Regina, I don't know how to advise you in a situation like this, medical ethics demand I keep a neutral stance and not encourage you to choose one boy over the other, so I am going to just tell you what i think, and quite possibly what you need to hear" Dr Hopper summarized calmly looking at the frazzled teenager with compassion "You, despite all your faults, do deserve to be happy, wether it's with Daniel or Robin or even alone, you deserve love, you are a young lady that deserves to have a seccond chance, so my advice is just that, go, find what truly makes you happy and don't let your fears keep you from taking it"  
  
Regina seemed to consider Dr Hopper for a moment, lifting her gaze and showing him the true vulnerability in her young eyes "It's been a long time since I've allowed myself to be happy"  
  
"All the more reason to find it again"  
  
Regina thought about his words, did she really deserve to be happy? After all her mother had done? After all SHE had done? But it was the first time since Daniel that someone ever told her she deserved hapiness, even if it was just Dr Hopper, she realized that maybe she wasn't wrong in comming to him for counseling "You what, maybe you are right" she said as if suddenly struck with a life changing epiphany "I don't deserve to be unhappy for the rest of my life" She smiled then, a true genuine non-sarcastic smile before getting up "I need to get to Drama club in five, but just for the record Dr Hopper, you are not that bad of a Guidance Councillor" She said getting back into her normal icy self "Even if you are sort of weird and dress like a dork"  
  
Realizing that this was as close to a compliment as he was likely to get from the Teenage beauty Queen Archie smiled "Thank you Regina that's always nice to hear" but Regina was already out of his office disregarding him entirely   
  
After her talk with Archie, Regina spent some time reevaluating her priorities, what did she want in life? Terrorizing Snow White wasn't that fun anymore, graduation was comming up and odds where that Snow would be queen once Regina went off to college, so it took away the satisfaction of seeing her squirm, all seniors around her seemed to have plans that made them happy, Neal was secretly saving up for a semester in England (against his father's wishes), Cyrus, Jefferson and Victor where planning of heading off to LA (after years of posting crap on YouTube a producer finally noticed them), Ruby was the singer of said band so Regina had no doubt the girl would run off too possibly after a big fight with her grandmother.  
  
Anastasia was a no brainer, Law School in Washington DC because that's where all future politician wives went to get started, Will Scarlet would either follow her or join Robin and the bikers, TinkerBell was working with some genius people she met on Tumblr to develop a matchmaking app called "Pixel Dust", so she'd probably just be hired by Google after graduation, even Emma, orphaned and adopted as a teenager by Snow White's family, seemed to have her act together with her plan to join the police training program, Killian the "resident rogue" as quoted by the yearbook was going to follow his brother William into the navy, Indiga planned to become a nun as soon as she could get away from "this cesspool of sin called high school" and even August (voted "most likely to become a used car salesman" by the yearbook every year) was going to do something with his life after graduation, studying buisness in a comunity college in order to take over his father's woodshop wasn't a terribly exiting plan mind you, but at least he had a plan that made him happy, everybody did.  
  
And if Regina was honest with herself? really did her plans even make her happy? she didn't even want to go to Harvard, what came after that? Politics? The congress? The White House? Aiming to be the First Female President sounded like the plan for a life made miserable by her own hand.  
  
If she thought about it hard enough it was plain to see she didn't know what she truly wanted. The only thing she knew was that she wanted to be free.   
  
So when Daniel came to visit (After making sure her mother was out of town in some Educator conference) Regina talked to him about it "I really did miss you Daniel, you don’t know how much" She said after a while, hearing him talk about his life in California, his job as a vet and all the exiting things he did over there, she sipped her smothie and looked away from him pretending tobe checking out Granny's menu  
  
"And I missed you, but I get the feeling you have something in your mind" He said looking at her warmly "talk to me" taking her hand in his he lifted her face to meet her eyes.  
  
And at that moment all Regina wanted was to lean into his arms and stay there, here he was, this wonderfull man, the boy who used to sneak her to the stables when she was younger and read her Shakespeare untill she fell asleep in his arms, and he knew how to read her so well "I love you so much, I don't think I'll ever stop loving you" was the first thing that slipped out of her lips as she looked into his eyes "But I've changed"   
  
"I know" Daniel replied as tough it was no big deal "You have grown up, but I can still see my sweet Regina there, you just need some help remembering who you used to be"  
  
"That's the thing, I don't think I want to" Regina whispered finally accepting a piece of truth "loosing you shattered me, it shattered me so badly that for a time I felt like I could never be happy again and I've done bad things, terrible things I'm not proud of, things the old Regina would never do"  
  
"And you are scared that I wont love you like that?" Daniel wondered shaking his head   
  
"I know you won't, we have changed Daniel" She said sadly "I'm not that naive girl anymore"  
  
"Then who are you? Who is this girl I don't recognize? Because you seem like Regina to me"  
  
"I don't know okay! I'm not innocent anymore but I'm not the evil queen either, I'm just me" She exclaimed frustrated "A girl that's too confused about her identity to explain herself, I'm me, I'm Regina, strong, weak, happy, sad, just a girl and you barely know that girl, I barely know you too, we fell apart and I didn't notice"  
  
"I understand" Daniel's voice was kind, warm and welcoming "You love me, but you are not inlove with me anymore" he summarized "You are right, you have changed and I respect that, you have become strong and confident, and even when I can still see my Regina, you are not that little girl anymore"   
  
"I'm sorry Daniel" she said sadly "Being with you is all I ever wanted, but…I'm not sure if I could make you happy, not as the person I am right now"  
  
"It would be a mistake I know that now, but even then, you are still important to me, you know that right?" He grinned then, making his face ten times more handsome "this must be the friendliest breakup talk ever"   
  
"Its because you where my first love" Regina said, her voice breaking " How can I not be nice to you? How can I let you go?"   
  
"You must try" Daniel advised rubbing her arm when he saw tears in her eyes "Letting me go is the right thing for you remember, I love you, but you'll be miserable with me, because the part of me you love, is the memory of what we used to be, not me in reality and I could try to work it out, for you I would, but you know it wouldn't end well"   
  
"So this is it, we really are saying goodbye" Regina muttered holding in her tears "How am I ever going to live witout you? I don't know how to get close to people, my friends are moving away and daddy is planning on filing for divorce" then she let Daniel pull her into his arms and let the tears fall slowly "Daniel I'm scared"  
  
"Don't be" He said soothingly kissing the top of her hair "You'll survive Regina, you always do, you don’t need me to be strong, not anymore and while that hurts me, I also know that you are going to make the best of this, you are too stubborn to give up"  
  
"I wish I could be selfish enough to ask you to stay" she could do it, she could lie, tell him she loved him as much as she used to, but the fact remained that they had grown apart, and yes she would always love him, he was her first love, but to do his love justice, she would have to change herself, and holding him back while he could be out there finding his own true love was something Regina couldn't do to him "but I want you to be happy"   
  
Feeling that this was the final goodbye Daniel pulled away from Regina and looked into her eyes with all the patience and caring of an eternal lover "You are a beautiful woman Regina, you are smart, strong and resourceful and when you smile you can work magic" He said, brushing a hand on her cheek, looking into her tear filled eyes "I know one day someone will look at you and love that person even more than I do, but untill then, promise me you'll try to be happy" And with a final kiss to her lips Daniel hugged Regina to him   
  
"I promise" She whispered into his chest and with those words she said goodbye, watching Daniel walk out of Granny's and get into his car.  
  
Heading out of Storybrooke..and her life.  
  
She didn't know she was being watched from across the street, or that Robin had seen her kissing Daniel  
  
Robin couldn't believe his eyes, there was Regina with this stranger he'd never met, hugging him and kissing like lifelong lovers and he knew he shouldn't be jealous but he was.  
  
Robin also noticed Snow White and Regina's friend Tink hiding behind a mailbox, obviously spying on the couple too, he decided to ask them what was going on "Do you think he's back for good, I mean after all she's about to graduate in two months" he heard Snow whisper   
  
"After what Cora did to him, nah, oh my gosh he's hugging her!" Tink hush-squealed "odds are he's asking her to run away with him"  
  
Robin cleared his troat and both girls jumped up guilty "I didn't do it" they screamed in unison making him chuckle   
  
"Oh, it's you Robin, we thought you where Sydney" Tink covered up rapidly "How's the Merry Riders thing going?"   
  
"Fine, you know how it goes, steal from the rich give to the poor" Robin was familiar with both of Regina's best friends but Tink was the one he liked most, probably because the technology savvy girl considered herself a "shipper" of his nonexistent romane with Regina, unlike Anastasia who made a point in glaring him down whenever he tried talking to her "Hey Tinker, you wouldn't happen to know the name of that bloke having breakfast with Regina would you?"  
  
TinkerBell shook her head pinching her lips, but Snow White, who was oblivious (and a terrible secret keeper) nodded "That's Daniel Stablefield, Regina's ex, he came down from California apparently, Regina systematically treatened everyone in town not to say anything about him to her mother or she would kill us all"  
  
"You mean she threatened YOU" Tink laughed "the rest of us are smart enough not to gossip about Regina's life, it was your fault what happened last time after all"  
  
"And you all never let me forget it" Snow snapped   
  
and since the cat was out of the bag, TinkerBell might as well fill in Robin with the details "Daniel was the guy Regina's mom framed for drug possession, Regina told me he's interning as a vet and has an apartment somewhere pretty, Facebook wise he's always getting tagged in volunteer work photos and keeps posting lots of "be positive" selfies, no Twitter to date, but I'm working on it" Tink supplied scrolling trough her phone   
  
"Tina Green did you just admit to Facebook stalking Regina's ex?" Snow gasped  
  
Tink shrugged her shoulders "I'm on the yearbook comitee, I Facebook stalk everyone" then she snorted looking at Robin up and down "exept you of course since you still refuse to join the real world and get a Facebook account"   
  
Robin felt his shoulder slump as he watched the seemingly perfect "Daniel" hug Regina "wait why is she crying?" He wondered panicked   
  
"Maybe he proposed" Snow ventured, making Robin clennch his fists,   
  
"Witout a ring? This is Danny Colter we are talking about, the guy that started writing poetry to Regina as soon as he knew how to spell" Tink hissed pointing to the scene "oh shit its a goodbye hug, oh shit, shit, shit" the blonde pixie muttered   
  
At her side Snow White turned the shade of her name "She's going to be biting heads tomorrow, oh dear" Both girls seemingly forgetting Robin was there began panicking and texting furiously as soon as they saw Daniel walk out of Granny's.  
  
"Anastasia is on her way with Regina's favorite beauty products and I'm off to the market to store her house with chocolates and apples" Tink told Snow "You call Emma...make sure people wear protective gear tomorrow, especially your goody two shoes crew of pals, stay out if her way and prepare for the worst" and woth that TinkerBell dashed off leaving a dumbfounded Robin and panicked Snow White behind   
  
"Its freshman prom all over again" Snow groaned hightailing out of there.  
  
"But Snow..." Robin tried to say, yet watching Regina in the distance he abandoned all his resolve to stay away from the Evil Queen and made to follow her. She looked so sad and evidently HE wasn't the only one with some major hang ups about his ex.   
  
He needed to talk to Regina. What if that pretty boy really HAD proposed?. Robin wasn't the type of man who would let a girl go without a fight.  
  
-What was supposed to come next-   
  
Robin confronts Regina about Daniel and the cozy scene he saw, Regina throws accusations about Marian to his face, they get into a big fight and Regina ends up getting drunk with Anastasia in Wonderland after telling Robin she never wants to see him again.  
  
Will comes in, gets super angry, cuts their tab and drives Anastasia (and third wheel Regina) home, confessing his love when he thinks Ana is asleep, not knowing Regina can heard him.  
  
Later Regina nominates Will Scarlett for Prom king thinking that Anastasia really doesn't like him and he should really get over her. But Anastasia suddenly gets super territorial and makes Tinkerbell invite Robin to Storybrooke High's.  
  
Regina keeps campaigning for prom Queen but she misses Robin. Obviously she thinks she's going to end up partnering one of the Nolan twins when James or David wins as prom King but one week before prom all her kingdom begins rebelling against Regina's plans.  
  
For starters Emma breaks up with Killian and buys a ticket to England claiming she's going to backpack trough Europe with NEAL. Professor Gold not only doesn't flip, but announces that he's happily dating Miss French and he's okay with Neal deciding to take a sabbatical to 'find himself'.   
  
Victor womanizer extraordinare abandons his band when he finds the got accepted into med school, while Ruby takes a page out of August book and decides to stay in Storybrooke taking over Granny's dinner so her grandma can retire early while August buys himself a freaking motorcycle.   
  
Regina's mom pressures her to blackmail Professor Gold with sensitive pictures of Miss French (which she doesn't because she's nobody's fool) and Gold in turn offers her a free ride to UCLA after said pictures are destroyed.   
  
And then prom gets there and Robin shows up to confess that he loves her and wants her to be happy, so he's leaving town. Just hours before Regina is set to be crowned Queen.  
  
Regina realizes that up on till that point she has been doing what other people think will make her happy (prom, UCLA, tormenting Snow) but not really anything she's chosen for herself.  
  
Prom night arrives, and Regina isn't there, Anastasia wins Prom Queen while Will wins Prom King (rigged by Alice&Cyrus + the rest of the Wonderland gang of course). They talk and Ana decides to follow Regina's example and look for her own happiness, so she finally admits that she loves Will with all her heart. And Will in turn confesses that his grades aren't actually bad and that he got accepted into Washington state so he'll be going with her to DC because he never planned to give up on their love.  
  
Meanwhile Regina is parked outside the Merry Men MC building. Wearing her prom dress and with a suitcase in hand. Robin offers her a helmet and asks about Harvard. Regina smiles telling him that Harvard will still be there after she figures out what she really wants to do with the rest of her life. But Robin won't and she's not going to live her life unhappy because anymore. He makes her feel like she deserves to be loved, for who she is inside and out, she wants to kiss him, she wants to tell the world that he's hers. So she's not going to let him go, this time if her boyfriend leaves town, she's coming with him.

**Author's Note:**

> There'll be happiness after you  
> But there was happiness because of you, too  
> Both of these things can be true  
> There is happiness  
> -Taylor Swift


End file.
